last updated 9/15/2008. fall 2007 and spring 2008

Last Updated 9/15/2008

Fall 2007 and Spring 2008

Which one of the following courses was related to the field experience you took in Fall 2007 or Spring 2008?

Field Experience Course

Fall 2007 (n =225) Spring 2008 (n =282)

Level I (200:030) 130 118

Level II (200:148) 70 97

Level III – Elem. (210:120)

16 51

Level III – Other (Fall: 800:188 / Spring: 210:130g)

9 16

At which of the following schools did you complete your field experience?

Field Experience Schools

Fall 2007 (n =224) Spring 2008 (n = 283)

Price Lab School (PLS) 64 81

Edison Elem. 11 9

Hansen Elem. 9 18

Central M.S. 8 11

Cedar Falls High School (CFHS)

10 9

Other 122 155

How did you commute to your field experience?

Commuting – How?

Fall 2007 (n = 224) Spring 2008 (n = 283)

Drove alone 172 213

Gave rides to others 10 15

Rode with someone 16 14

Walked 42 51

Other 3 6

Which of the following did you experience when commuting to your field experience?

Commuting to the field experience– Any problems?

Fall 2007 (n = 219) Spring 2008 (n = 278)

No difficulties 121 165

Difficult to park 64 70

Distance related problems

21 26

Limited time – busy schedule

59 63

Hard to find ride 1 6

Other 15 16

Which of the following did you complete as part of your field experience?

Types of engagement

Fall 2007 ( n =223) Spring 2008 (n = 282)

Observing teachers/instruction

223 280

Working with groups 212 273

Creating materials 104 130

Planning to teach 129 192

Co-planning 77 125

Help with lesson prep. 107 165

Teaching lessons 149 215

Fall 2007 (n = 223) Spring 2008 (n = 282)

Record-keeping 125 147

Helping to evaluate student work

150 176

Completing teacher work sample

89 136

Journaling with mentoring teacher

81 140

Conferencing 155 222

Extra –curric. activities

27 38

Other 35 41

During my field experience, I engaged in a significant amount of interactions with students

Amount of Interactions

Fall 2007 (n = 223) Spring (n = 281)

Strongly Agree 130 204

Agree 67 61

Uncertain 13 3

Disagree 11 11

Strongly Disagree 2 2

How many times did your mentoring teacher conference with you about your field experience?

Conferencing – How often?

Fall 2007 (n = 222) Spring 2008 (n = 281)

Never 11 22

One time 45 32

Two times 36 44

Three times 30 52

Four times 20 30

Five times or more 80 101

My mentoring teacher advised me and answered my questions

Conferencing – Mentoring Teacher

Fall 2007 (n = 222) Spring 2008 (n = 281)

Strongly Agree 131 199

Agree 67 63

Uncertain 9 9

Disagree 15 8

Strongly Disagree 0 2

This field experience has helped me to develop as an effective and reflective teacher

Impact – Effective and reflective teacher

Fall 2007 (n = 222) Spring 2008 (n = 281)

Strongly Agree 90 162

Agree 95 95

Uncertain 25 12

Disagree 12 9

Strongly Disagree 0 3

This field experience helped me make connections in my related course between theory and practice

Impact – Theory and practice

Fall 2007 (n = 222) Spring 2008 (n = 281)

Strongly Agree 68 116

Agree 94 124

Uncertain 33 26

Disagree 23 9

Strongly Disagree 4 6

How many times did your supervisor visit you at your field experience site?

Supervision – How many visits?

Fall 2007 (n = 221) Spring 2008 (n = 282)

Never 178 212

One time 4 8

Two times 12 5

Three times 15 11

Four times 8 15

Five times or more 4 31

Who of the following contributed most to your ability to complete the teacher work sample (TWS)?

Supervision – Help with TWS

Fall 2007 (n = 221) Spring 2008 (n = 275)

University Supervisor 14 29

Professor 28 27

Mentoring teacher 70 94

Did not complete a teacher work sample

109 125

Question #1:

How could the value of the field experience be improved?

Question #2:

What was the impact of the field experience upon your development as a teacher?

1. Commuting to the field experience 2. Types of engagement in the classroom 3. Interactions with students 4. Observing/talking with mentoring teacher 5. Impact (1): Development as an effective

and reflective teacher 6. Impact (2): Making connections between

theory and practice

7. Supervision 8. Evaluating the experience 9. Personal career 10. Classroom placement 11. Program suggestions 12. Miscellaneous

Category: Commuting to the field experience

“Driving was an issue. It was difficult to get in all my hours and manage school work when I had to include a two hour drive.”

“Parking! There is not enough parking on campus.”

Category: Types of engagement in the classroom

“I could not have asked for a better classroom. I learned a great deal about lesson planning, collaborating, and finding resources.”

“My teacher included me in her classroom by letting me do small groups and lessons with the class.”

Category: Interactions with students

“I was involved in many of the activities the students did, as well as being given the responsibility of teaching small groups.”

“I got to interact with students and build the student-teacher relationship.”

Category: Observing/talking with mentoring teacher.

“My cooperating teacher and I talked about everything.”

“My cooperating teacher answered a lot of my questions and helped me know what I did really well and how I could improve.”

Category: Impact (1) - Development as an effective and reflective teacher

“”Field experience allowed me to see my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher.”

“I have a better understanding of the teacher I would like to be and learned many ‘best practices’ that I should display as a teacher.”

Category: Impact (2) – Making connections between theory and practice

“I was able to observe many things happening in the classroom that we talked about in our class at UNI.”

“It was good to use ideas from my methods course in an actual classroom.”

Category: Supervision

“I really enjoyed having a supervisor. She really helped me.”

A supervisor coming in whenever a lesson was taught was extremely helpful because it gave immediate feedback.”

Category: Evaluating the experience

“I think it is the perfect way for students considering going into the teaching field to really get to see what it is like.”

“It was a great, eye-opening experience.”

Category: Personal career

“The field experience had a big impact on my choice to become a teacher.”

“I know this is what I want to do for sure now.”

Category: Classroom placement

“They tried placing me in a 4 and 5 year old classroom, which is not my major.”

“I would have liked to be with the grade level that I intend to teach.”

Category: Program suggestions

“Add even more hours? Make a complete semester out of Level I field experience.”

“ It would be even better if we were able to teach in our Level III classroom for two weeks or if we could do two different age placements.”

Category: Miscellaneous

“To me all this work makes me feel like a slave.”

“This experience has given me another contact within my field.”

Fall 2007 (n = 172) Spring 2008 ( n = 198)

Evaluative 30 36

Mentoring teacher 28 23

Types of engagement 27 20

Program suggestions 21 32

Interactions/students 18 15

Classroom placement 16 9

Impact – theory/practice 15 23

Commuting 9 12

Supervision 5 15

Miscellaneous 2 4

Personal career 1 2

Impact – effective teacher

0 7

Fall 2007 (n = 172) Spring 2008 ( n = 198)

Evaluative 17.4% 18.2%

Mentoring teacher 16.3% 11.6%

Types of engagement 15.7% 10.1%

Program suggestions 12.2% 16.2%

Interactions/students 10.5% 7.6%

Classroom placement 9.3% 4.5%

Impact – theory/practice 8.7% 11.6%

Commuting 5.2% 6.1%

Supervision 2.9% 7.6%

Miscellaneous 1.2% 2.0%

Personal career 0.6% 1.0%

Impact – effective teacher

0% 3.5%

Fall 2007 (n =172) Spring 2008 (n = 208)

Impact – effective teacher

66 68

Personal career 21 25

Mentoring teacher 19 21

Types of engagement 18 29

Interactions/students 15 16

Impact – theory/practice 12 19

Evaluative 11 20

Miscellaneous 4 3

Classroom placement 3 0

Program suggestions 2 0

Supervision 1 6

Commuting 0 1

Fall 2007 (n =172) Spring 2008 (n = 208)

Impact – effective teacher

38.4% 32.7%

Personal career 12.2% 12.2%

Mentoring teacher 11.0% 10.1%

Types of engagement 10.5% 13.9%

Interactions/students 8.7% 7.7%

Impact – theory/practice 7.0% 9.1%

Evaluative 6.4% 9.6%

Miscellaneous 2.3% 1.4%

Classroom placement 1.7% 0%

Program suggestions 1.2% 0%

Supervision 0.6% 2.9%

Commuting 0% 0.5%